


00fftober drabbles

by renhyuckmin



Category: Final Fantasy XIV, NCT (Band)
Genre: 31 Days Of Halloween, Constellation, Enchanted - Freeform, Home, Other, Spring, Storm - Freeform, Talisman, blessing and curse, dimension, fairy tale, lowercase bc im a lazy bitch, nct / ffxiv every second day, we love admin tea amen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-08 07:55:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20831996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renhyuckmin/pseuds/renhyuckmin
Summary: 31 short stories throughout the month of october based off the 00FFTOBER prompts !! fandom is tagged in chapter titles , characters in notes at the start!





	1. spring (original)

**Author's Note:**

> original character , no pairing

Comforting ringing resonated through the fresh forest air, their source being the seasonal bells swayed back and forth by gusts of wind erupting from deep within the woods. The festivities were beautiful, bringing with them a feeling of comfort as each and every person passing through was caught in a mesmerizing array of colours accompanied by the sounds of spring bells and music being played by a few hired performers.

The city had blossomed, as it did each spring, a variety of people coming to watch the spring festival and taking part in the various activities it had to offer and Nive found herself having to watch her step in order to not stumble over a young child more than once. Though she didn’t mind for spring would always be her favourite season. She too was one of the many who loved coming home to the trees stretching around the woodland town, blooming in a thousand colours and watching as travelers from each corner of the world revelled in their beauty. A sweet breeze swept over her naked knees, moving the light fabric around her chest with it as the woman ducked out from the midst of festivities and instead stealthily wandered in between merchants’ stalls. 

A smile grazed her smooth features, hand lifted in greeting as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd, fading from view as fast as it appeared. Time flew differently in spring. “Father!”, she had turned her head, gaze falling onto a small human child begging the man next to it for a simple spring dress, “Mom would love this wouldn’t she?” Nive could only chuckle at the pair as she passed through the packed halls, rest of the conversation lost to the noises around them. Whilst the woman made her way throughout the town, slim body squeezing through the entryway filled with more and more people as time went on, she could not refuse taking in each and every part of her surroundings. Her eyes flickered over the wooden barracks on her right, the smell of sweat overshadowed by the sweet nectar of sprouting flowers and fresh juice, before they continued to wander, taking note of the passer-bys that greeted her with happy smiles.

Though, once her feet gained spring in their step and she waltzed through the rather narrow passageway in the city’s farther reaches, the mood had changed. Less people would make their way to the Falls and Nive found comfort in the peaceful atmosphere, only spotting fellow travelers once in a while. Her bosom met a bench before long, feet dangling over the lake in which the waterfall ended - the noise of trickling water reflected off the high walls around her. The area had almost been entirely closed off were it not for the passage she herself had walked through and, though one could view the sunlit skies above, it invoked a feeling of home. Within the passing of a second, her hazel eyes ripped off the bright blue sky, focusing instead on the lighter blue below her feet - soles dangerously close to being drenched by the spill below.

No one stared back at her but her reflection; no loud person cheering midday - drunk on whatever grog they had found in the street - just her. A hand found its way to twirl her hair, the wine-red locks in a messy bob, though augmented with a single braid stretching over the top of her head and she found hilarity in the way her hair curled at its tips. She watched as her ears flicked as she used the lake as a mirror to fish a leaf out of her cat-like feature, dropping the green into the same-coloured grass on the ground below. For a while she lost herself in the shallow waters below, vision blurring as her thoughts swirled around both the festivities and the events they would distract the folk from. Her mind would fill with the pictures of bodies, soldiers fallen on battlefields, lives given for wars never won. _ Drop. _ With the sound of a pink blossom meeting the water, her thoughts shifted back, hand reaching below to grab ahold of the young flower and lodging the petals between strands of her braid.

Spring was for happiness after all.


	2. fairy tale (nct)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which renjun finds home after a lifetime without. [loosely based off the fairytale thumbelina]

laughter filled the endlessly blue heaven above, so loud that renjun’s hands pressed onto his ears as he scrambled to pick himself up. if he had been taller he would curse out the sparrows that flew above his head, circling as the spouted obscenities at the boy below. “surely, he is not aspiring to travel”, one of the birds had chirped, watching as renjun took one step after the other on the gravel road before him. “how foolish! how foolish!”, would the other three sparrows tweet, their bodies coming eerily close to renjun so that he clutched his chest in fear before they let off him and circled further above. 

he hadn’t expected his journey to be one free of judgement, as short as he had been alive he had been on the receiving end of mean comments and, by this point, he had gotten used to it. though that did not mean renjun did not experience hurt with every time it happened, rather he took every simple word to heart. he was fragile like that, his body pale and so light that nothing more than a gust of wind had him struggle to hold onto a blade of grass; and the sparrows knew.

but despite their chittering, renjun kept going, his miniscule feet almost tripping over a single pebble, not much bigger than one ear of corn. weeks went by, the sun setting and rising faster than renjun could walk even a hundred meters, staying on the same road until it ended in the midst of a forest. the trees had been gigantic, though mayhaps that was only to be attributed to renjun being much smaller, even if compared to a butterfly - much like the ones that started fluttering around him sooner than later with undying curiosity.

“what an odd creature!”, they had said, their voices sounding as soft as renjun had imagined their furry bodies to feel like. much unlike the birds, those annoying sparrows and those self-absorbed magpies, the much smaller - yet still bigger in comparison to him himself - animals gathered around him in awe rather than disgust. his skin felt hot when the butterflies stretched their tendrils, twirling in excitement the more they looked, and started gushing over his petite legs. “a tiny human!”, the middle one said, her multitude of feet meeting the ground as she spoke and the colourful wings coming to a stop, “how cute! how cute!” renjun experienced embarrassment for the first time the longer they went on, his teeny voice almost lost to the wind as he mustered a sentence. “is there any place i could live?” the scatter of bugs began muttering amongst themselves, the white butterfly chirping much higher than the red one or the one mustered with a plethora of colours. “the temples! the temples!” had been the conclusion, the trio of insects in sync as they passed on the information.

as renjun wondered how he would get there, feet bruised from his long walks, the answer had been right in front of him. the butterflies offered to fly his body over, the largest of the three - the one covered in a mesmerizing red - holding still so that the boy could climb up and nestle into the hairs on his back. renjun had blinked, profusely bowing to his newfound companions before his hands grabbed ahold of the butterfly’s back and, with much effort, climbed until he was sat perfectly between its wings. he felt the hairs tickle his naked arms and knees, clothing woven from petals and grass never good enough to cover each inch of his body.

and as life would have it, it marked the embarkation on another journey that would take not weeks, but days. it had been surprising, really, to cling into the sturdy body of the insect below and watching the world pass by in a flash. the band of five would only land when nightfall came or when renjun expressed his need for food and the five asked a friendly hive of bees for a little honey, not more than a teaspoon full sating the bunch of them. renjun would grow used to resting on the back of his new friends’ backs, the fur below much softer than the flowerbeds he had slept in for the past years of his life - one that he had spent the majority of searching for his very own home.

renjun found home before long, as he woke up - fallen asleep mid flight - to the companions approaching a stone structure far into the woods and he could barely contain his excitement as his legs met the moss inside for the first time. all of the sleepiness had been forgotten the second they landed and he slid down the butterfly, jumping onto the moss that splattered wet rain onto him as he stomped as hard as he could. “look! look!”, the bugs spoke to him, “your people! your people!”

when he turned his head, gaze turned towards the silky white flowers deep into the temple and spotted heads poking out of each of them, he had felt home at last.


	3. blessing and curse (ffxiv)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and it was that selfsame spell that brought both bliss and worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'shtola - centric , no pairing , wol not specified

technically, she wasn’t a witch, she was simply a magic user - one well versed in the arts. ideally, she thought, was when people recognized her as a white mage, but considering the amount of ignorance people feigned, it was enough to be known as someone with the power to heal - a spellweaver if you must. sometimes she could do nothing more but sigh as another child, not yet taught the ways of their nation, squealed excitedly at the sight of a _ witch _.

unlike a common witch though, the ones that merely existed in children's’ books, her magic was drawn from nature itself, her every spell in accordance with the elements around her as to not disturb the equilibrium between them. her spells carried with them pure bliss, a sort of comfort to the aid of her allies; yet the selfsame magic was not short of its destructive powers that met her foes.

someone more deserving of the _witch_ title was her sister, though even then she would not have dared to tell mhitra she thought of her as a witch - because she didn’t! her sister was a living being whereas witches were purely fictional and, y’shtola knew y’mhitra would not let her hear the end of it were she ever to joke about the thought. she loved their differences, the way the others tail twitched would she remind her of the embarrassing things the two did when they were still children; tales carried in their memory, unforgotten for the past decades.

this story however is not about mhitra, it’s not about the elemental opposition between the two sisters and neither is it about witches. this story is shtola’s and hers alone. because, curses weren’t something that only a woman versed in the arts of summoning would be able to inflict. curses were born of the caster’s own volition, their every thought and emotion rather than being an entirely separate spell. sure, even for y’shtola, curses had their own names, yet despite that they were still the selfsame ones she cast as blessings onto her allies. the aether that surrounded her, so flimsy that it would float through the air without issue, stood at the core of her every weave. were she to heal her allies’ wounds, were it in battle or simply following an accident, her hands pulled forth a plethora of light-aspected aether, the staff adorned with leaves as vibrant as those which graced the trees, would channel every piece of the feeble aether until she released it onto the wounded.

it was curing magic. the potency of which a blessing to those she loved and those who admired her strength until they turned against her. she had experimented with her spellweaving just a _ tad _ when the aether collected in her limbs spilled through the tip of her wand, finding itself forming a bright ball before it exploded into pure gleam, purple and blue lights dancing in her vision as the aether dissipated just seconds later. _ holy _ was what they called the exploding spell, yet hers was different. she could feel her fingertips tingle with leftovers, feel her body realign itself into the astral realm before she could whisper new words. and, recalling the words by her old tutor, she knew she had dabbled into a spell that would rip her apart, send her into the lifestream to which every deal soul was added. she had chuckled, stuffed the wand back onto the holster on her hip and left the forests with her newfound knowledge - one that she believed, no she _ knew _ would serve her in the days to come.

and as life would have it, it served her more than well. her legs grew tired as she and her bold companions bolted through the catacombs of a city built upon gold. the reason? the meeting she had attended had turned with a simple sip of the sultana herself - the small woman who herself had invited the scions to discuss pressing matters dropped to the ground after the wine in her golden cup ran down her throat. at that point, the band of scions knew they were about to be framed, moreso when the sultana’s own guard barged into the crown’s hall and, without sparing their monarch a glance, flat out declared they would not rest until the scion’s heads were separated from their heads. the bunch of adventurers had bolted, chairs previously sat on kicked to the walls behind and hands resting on their hips, smoothly dragging their respective weapons out of their sheaths.

fighting their way out of the royal promenade had been exhaustive. y’shtola could barely process her spells being cast, her vision was fixated onto the battle in front of her and her allies at her sides. she could see thancred’s twinblades finding their victims, she watched the wounds they inflicted gushing blood and she watched countless of the city’s protectors fall with each meter they progressed out of the promenade. in that moment, with her lips moving in such impeccable speed and everyone’s hands moving in unison to fight off the evil that had been cast over the desert jewel that was the city, her mind believed they would be slain. shtola had been correct in her assumption, had they not had the commander and sultana’s closest fighter at their side, they would have never found their way out without casualty. “this way”, he had signalled with his actions rather than his words and y’shtola’s eyes darted towards the stairway leading them into the catacombs. though her enemies would follow her, she watched the scions run through the narrow door, not noticing her own legs carry her down each of the steps.

raubahn, commander of the ul’dahn blades - which had previously been on their side -, stayed behind, knowing had he followed his friends he too would have ended up as a dead man and rather kneeled at the sultana’s side to protect her from unnecessary harm. mindfully, she thanked his noble instincts for showing them the way out before dealing with both brass blades and alphinaud’s very own crystal braves, who had sold the scions out for the promise of coin. shaking off the thought that raubahn too might be a target of the sultana’s assassination, she ran and ran, the dirt above and below dirtying the air. each particle of dust swirling below her feet, dust not resting until the action in the tunnels ceased; which it wouldn’t. without once turning her head, she could hear the steps behind her, feel them as they moved the grounds below

“go on ahead, we’ll fend them off”, y’shtola’s hands met minfilia’s waist as the four came to a stop and gently pushed the woman forward. she looked at the warrior of light, pleading them to run off and her cries were not unheard as the two ran further. her eyes followed the two before she flashed a sly smile and turned to thancred, “let’s do this.”

and in the heat of battle, she cast a spell. the very same holy spell she had practiced months prior to the pinch they found themselves in, collapsing the ceiling above them before their enemies could pass through. to her friends, her nobility was a blessing, knowing they were safe. a blessing until they realized y’shtola had hereby spirited herself away into the realm of the dead and they struggled to find a way to get the woman back.

in a way, saving her friends cursed them with the knowledge that she might be lost forever.


	4. constellation (nct)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> donghyuck wonders about the stars & renjun entertains his thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nct , pairing renhyuck

“do you think other constellations are like we are?”, renjun furrowed an eyebrow at the question. “what do you mean?” he watched donghyuck sigh, the golden freckles on his skin sparkling as he spoke and renjun watched as he struggled to get the words out. “like...if they’re just constellations because humans made them up or if they too were born of a bond.” a hum escaped renjun’s lips, the tips of his dark hair glowing bright yellow as he thought. it was a legitimate question and one neither of the two could answer.

the couple was spread across each other, hyuck’s head resting on renjun’s lap and it took every ounce of his self-control to not let his hand run through the golden locks of the younger boy. donghyuck looked so eternally ethereal, with his eyelids comfortably closed and with each day that passed, renjun worried that one day he might lose his counterpart to the undying dark that was the universe. he  _ hated _ how donghyuck knew his every thought, hazel eyes meeting his own as hyuck laughed, “i’ll never fade.” a smile drew across renjun’s face, fingers slowly entangling themselves in the liquid gold on his lap and feeling hyuck hold his breath everytime they scraped across his scalp.

renjun could tell that the boy’s mind was still stuck on the thought, he saw the millions of lights on the tan skin illuminate the black night surrounding them and he adored every single one of them. so much that he found himself wonder about the same lingering question. his eyes grazed over billions over other spots, twinkling bright in unreachable distance, wondering if at least one of them  _ felt _ like they did. maybe others had it harder to form their own relationships, after all stars came a dime a dozen and constellations could be borne of multiple pairs of stars, all connected to one another. “some of them probably hate each other”, he hadn’t realized he thought out loud until he felt donghyuck shuffle. within a few seconds his lap felt empty, donghyuck instead sitting up to lean on his shoulder, “that’s sad though, isn’t it?”

another sensation. his right hand heated up as donghyuck’s fingers ran down his own, tracing the patterns on his palm before intertwining their limbs. “is it?”, he redirected his vision, looking at the younger boy next to him with everlasting content, “i assume they don’t know any other way.” donghyuck grimaced in response, mimic betraying the clingy behaviour his hands showed and, without his star even speaking a word, he knew it hurt hyuck to think about that. renjun lifted his left hand, fingertips glowing as he drew his index finger through the heavens, “monoceros is somewhere behind the independent stars.” he felt donghyuck lift his head to follow his actions, waiting for the other to fixate on the worlds behind his finger, “they’re all apart, way further than we could ever be and there’s an abundance of nebulas. i doubt they could ever feel the other without causing black holes.”

he felt a surge of sadness well up inside his chest, half of which his own, the other half from the one beside him. “i hate how you have to be right all the time.” donghyuck had almost made that his catchphrase and renjun laughed, feeling the gold shimmer on his own skin as his body moved, “i might not be!” he didn’t have to look to his side to know the pout form on donghyuck’s lips, after all they got so close he could feel his every thought as if it was his own and, maybe, he liked to believe that was simply because they loved one another. “even if you are”, donghyuck started and renjun dropped his hand to focus on his boyfriend, “there might still be the possibility. look!”

despite renjun’s  _ very _ logical beliefs, he entertained the thought -- may it just be for the sake of watching donghyuck’s eyes glow in every imaginable colour. “what about them?”, his eyes followed hyuck’s movements, eyebrows raising in disbelief. however before he could voice his concerns, donghyuck shushed him, “hear me out! it’s not unbelievable.” - “i’m not saying it is!” he watched as donghyuck faced him, stared and rolled his eyes before continuing, “what i was saying is look at hydra. they’re  _ huge _ and even if they’re far apart there must be at least one that feels somewhat like we do.” he felt the genuinity of his words and renjun could only helplessly give up on his own thoughts, a part of him honestly swayed by his boyfriend’s excitement.

“fine, you win!”, renjun wrapped his arms around donghyuck as he spoke, breaking the waterfall of words that started flowing from the younger boy as soon as he had started talking. the boy had gotten  _ awfully _ involved with other constellations’ relationships and wildly pointed out different stars, completely and entirely ignoring the one beside him. “feeling left out?”, donghyuck grinned and renjun groaned in response. he didn’t even have to agree for donghyuck to face him. he couldn’t take another breath before donghyuck placed kisses on his lips, not wiping that stupidly attractive smile off his face as he did, “we’re still our own constellation, you know i love you.” maybe, thinking of other constellations was something they should do more often if it meant getting all the attention he was getting. and maybe, being a small constellation, so tiny they were called  _ canis minor _ was perfect for the two.


	5. dimension (ffxiv)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i can’t refute that”, his shoulders lifted before they fell as he sighed, “it still makes me stir just like the first time you said it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> original wol , exarch + soft friendships

she grinned, eyes getting used to the sudden bright they saw in front of them after her body passed through the portal that now lay behind. the room she found herself in was beautiful as ever, the crystallized floor ornamented with golden representations of the twelve worlds in their dimension. rays of gold led up the walls, gently stretching over the top of every piece of the same blue crystal that created the tower she was standing inside. now that she thought of it, the crystal tower was,  _ despite _ its significance, a terrible spot to reemerge from. after all, to pass through the rift between her piece of the world and this, she was doused in striking black, sight only possible through glowing shards that were lost inside and her eyes would sting whenever the well-lit room appeared in front of her.

yet she still made the journey, one she would start making more often than she’d like to admit. “g’raha tia!”, her voice was playful, soothing if nothing else and she could barely hide the wide grin on her face as the man turned around with the mention of his name. he’d bite his lower lip, embarrassment plain to see, no matter how often he’d respond with “you know you’re the only one who calls me that, right?” she hummed in response, feet lightly stepping off the stairs that led further into the circular room and only came to a halt when she could properly look up at the taller. her eyes strayed over the red hair on his face, fingers tingling to brush strands aside, mind wondering how well white bobby pins would hold them out of his eyes, but she kept her distance. “how could i not, you yourself said”, she lifted her index finger to shush the older, grayed skin tinted blue under the reflecting lights, “it reminded you of the boy you once were. before all this dimensional business anyways.”

her gaze rested on his, no tension between the old pair of companions,  _ friends? _ and rather a homely meeting in their midst as she watched him struggle to get the words out. “i can’t refute that”, his shoulders lifted before they fell as he sighed, “it still makes me stir just like the first time you said it.” her laughter was melodic, hands itching to latch onto the taller as she passed by him, turning on her heels in such a swift motion that her scaled tail almost failed to spin with her. “before i take another step, find another adventure, how about a chat with your biggest inspiration?” she had not waited for an answer that time, knowing the response and held the door open as the other followed her outside, “when will you let that die!”

she would not and in their hearts both of them knew she would never. her mind always recalled the stories he’d told her, about how when she first helped him back when, he’d found comfort in her wise words, in her willingness to sacrifice everything to help both people she loved or barely knew. she remembered when she met him in her world, remembered how he spoke of the tragedy that would befall the lands had he not cast himself into the past,  _ her _ present and helped another dimension - one which he stuck himself in and she had been spirited away to. she left, a lot, but she was always drawn back in accordance of her own will. the terror rested deep in her thoughts, admiration for the noble sacrifice he made or  _ would _ make locked deep within as she replaced the dark with lighthearted conversation.

they made it a habit, she’d grow more confident with each time she emerged from the white and dry liquid that the portal consisted of, no dizziness spinning her mind and no colours clouding her vision after the change of brightness. yet with all these changes, she still spoke the same name every time she bolted through, asking for a chat with the same excitement twinkling in her sky blue eyes. she felt the man get more comfortable with the audiences, not that he hadn’t been before - he had just been  _ shy _ and they extended trips further out. they wouldn’t simply walk through the markets of the crystarium, wouldn’t visit the herbariums but move through the pink trees that laid behind the walls of the city.

  
  


“minki!”, he’d ran out of air as she skipped through the forests, boots wet from stepping through the shallow lake below, and simply motioned for him to follow behind. luckily, the dark green of her hair practically glew through the pink leaves and when he finally reached her, she’d settled on a log, backpack discarded in front as a harp lay in her hands. without a word, her fingers ran across the strings, melodic music echoing through the plethora of trees as he sat beside her and, to her surprise, started humming along. she stopped in her tracks, fingers still attached to the silken strings they played and they had decided to make, that too, a habitual thing. her playing the harp with the utmost care as he made up texts to go along with it, some fitting, some not.

  
  


it was funny, how inseparable they became. she’d visit at least once a week, not only to ask the townsfolk if they required anything, but to chat and listen to the man explain every corner of the areas laying around the crystarium. she found peace listening to the many stories, whether they contained bloodshed or not.

  
  


it wasn’t funny anymore, when she tumbled through the portal one time, gut gushing dark red blood that contrasted the blue floor it met. he had waited for her to call out, sitting in the book-filled study that he’d set up in a space unoccupied by sharp crystal walls. he’d waited until he heard a thump, her knees meeting the floor below as she felt the blood pool up in her throat. “hey g’raha”, she said before she passed out on the cold crystal floor, “you really need to do something about the crystalline shards inside the rift.”


	6. talisman (nct)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “this”, his right index finger met the cold stone, “is a jasper - a gemstone if you’re not big on specifics.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nct , pairing markno (platonic? romantic? i dont know)

“don’t take this off!”, mark recalled his friend’s words, fiddling with the silver necklace the other one had given him. he was laying in bed, back comfortably resting on the soft bedding below as he held the pendant up, a single orange gem dangling from the silver chain. a sigh escaped his lips, eyes fixated on the orange stone until he dropped it back onto his chest, “this is so dumb.” but jeno had looked so desperate, clipping the necklace off his own neck and laying it around mark’s instead, that mark couldn’t bring himself to go against his words. it’s not as if jeno would be able to tell, yet something inside him figured wearing the pendant would cause no harm. his black hair bobbed on his head as he sat up with a groan and blindly let his hand roam for his cell phone, wasting the day away scrolling mindlessly through various social networks.

mark hadn’t taken it off when he went to work the next day, raising an eyebrow as jeno stared at his neck for a moment before flashing a smile and returning to sorting through the shelves. his eyes grazed over the thousands of medicine bottles, each of them carefully positioned behind the pharmacy’s counters and he wondered how much longer he would work this dead-end job. not that being a community pharmacist was necessarily challenging, but the only things that fought his boredom as he spun around on one of the office chairs were jeno’s fairytales and their communal netflix account. the tv shows they watched seemed more realistic than the millions of times that jeno spoke of fairies, witches and spells, eyes practically glowing as he spoke. mark simply listened, hummed as he sat in the break room and pulled his laptop from the backpack he brought to work, gaze darting back and forth between jeno, who would  _ not _ stop talking, and the posts on his facebook.

obviously, mark didn’t stop to think about the things jeno had been telling him for years - he wasn’t stupid, he just could not figure out what merit it would have to think about magic if it didn’t exist. after some months of working together, he had simply given up trying to refute jeno’s claims and settled for listening to the stories; it drained his nerves to argue and oddly enough, the younger man had a calming voice, no matter what idiocy he spoke of. work ended as soon as it started and he’d find himself going home still as tired as he was that self same morning. “see you tomorrow!”, he said as he packed up his things. “don’t break the necklace”, jeno had responded as the door closed behind him.

for some reason, mark found himself getting used to the small gemstone resting between his collar bones and after another week, jeno had stopped checking if he was still wearing the necklace. he wondered why the brunette was so obsessed with making him wear it, but knowing the kind hearted spirit that jeno was, mark couldn’t think bad of it. “you never told me why you gave me this”, he spoke up one day, curiosity getting the better of him after a month of wear. the glint in jeno’s eyes was unmistakable and mark was preparing for another irrational explanation, another tale of witchcraft and wizardry as the two moved the new shipment of prescription drugs from their cardboard box into the appropriate shelves. jeno had laughed, eyes turning into small crescents as he did, “you wouldn’t believe it though, would you?” “what if i did?”, mark was half-joking, not stopping in his tracks as he answered and kept sorting through the shipment. he heard jeno stop beside him, phial of cough sirup still in his hand, “then you’re free to listen.”

and mark did, he finished unpacking the bottles of diflucan before slumping down in one of their rundown office chairs, spinning freely while he waited for jeno to finish his box. jeno’s smile faded as he took a seat across from mark, moving his chair away from the desk and instead facing the older boy, close enough that his hands could reach the pendant on mark’s neck. “this”, his right index finger met the cold stone, “is a jasper - a gemstone if you’re not big on specifics.” mark raised an eyebrow, awaiting the other to elaborate as the pressure on his collarbones ceased. “in short, they promote endurance, life force, stamina and the like”, jeno sighed when the older suppressed a chuckle, “i know you’re not someone to believe in that.” feeling like he hurt the younger, mark stuttered out an apology, saying he meant no offense but it’s just surreal to him and jeno sighed in response. “either way, i have one for protection”, he lifted a hand, brushing aside the brown hair hiding his ears, “and considering you’ve been here for so long, you might need one too.” - “what does it protect you from?”, he’d been hooked. wondering what story jeno had to tell, one that may be more believable than witches and fairies. “wraiths mostly, banshees if they decide to show themselves”, jeno was so casual as he spoke, shrugging as he talked, “i thought about giving you one against sirens, but hostile ones are rare around here.”

mark just stared, he had  _ wanted _ to process the information jeno was giving him, however outlandish, but his gaze was still transfixed on the sharp tips of the boy’s ears that now poked through the brown strands. if jeno hadn’t been undeniably attractive before, he sure was strikingly beautiful now. “ah”, jeno laughed and mark redirected his gaze onto the boy’s lips, “you never figured out i was an elf, did you?”


	7. enchanted (ffxiv)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “but you must jest, an iaia! for truly were there to be a mortal”, ul tyr laughed, high-pitched and childish, thoughts filled with tricks to play, “we shan’t waste our time speaking like this, but lull them it, shall we not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some pixie shenanigans , trying to grasp their character!

sparkling, entrancing, almost melodic was the scenery, doused in billions upon billions of bright colours. every imaginable shade of pink, purple and yellow encompassing the flower fields below, bits of green only seen far, far behind the deep lake that marked the middle of the area. everything was in its place, untouched by mortal corruption and each and every sprout standing out uniquely among the others. they hid themselves in plain view, observing until a lonely wanderer or an adventurer of sorts would enter their homelands, trample on the beautiful flowers. ul tyr too was a pixie, their general shape humanesque but clad with the colours of nature, the sickly green skin seeming as if it could peel from them any second, veins running across the tiny body akin to those of a leaf.

the violet wings on their back fluttered intensely, only through the invisibility enchantment covering them were they imperceivable to the eyes of whatever sorry person would step into their village. their feet hovered over the bright flowers below, soles never brushing over even a shroud of greenery as they itched to find a soul to torment. “didn’t you hear?”, the air whispered, fellow pixies appearing in their vision as they returned to the overgrown hut - one reminder of times long passed - that the tribe had settled in. “hear what?”, ul tyr’s interest was piqued within a second, body warping around the group of pixies that giggled in amusement, each of their bodies appearing the same that even they had difficulty telling who was who. “the amaro”, one of the pixies chirped, twisting and turning as they spoke, “they’ve taken a mortal under their wing!” - “but you must jest, an iaia! for truly were there to be a mortal”, ul tyr laughed, high-pitched and childish, thoughts filled with tricks to play, “we shan’t waste our time speaking like this, but lull them it, shall we not?”

giddy, they were. ul tyr’s words having roused their playfulness, eliminated the inhibition and encouraged the pixies to mislead the mortal that had stepped into il mheg; the mortal that had slipped from under their noses. they chatted, wings eerily silent as they flew across the lake below, mirroring the pixies appearances in the waters below before they cast another spell, another enchantment to keep them indiscernible to the eye. “mossman”, an iaia suggested, but lad kenn shook their head. “boring! boring is what you are!”, they laughed as the other pixie chased them, both of them spinning horizontally, “we should play with them first!” ul tyr watched their companions, eyeing every of the flaps of their wings with caution as they simply chuckled in response, silently agreeing with both their opinions. the land unfolded before them ere long, green hills and gray cliffs marking the difference between the two sides of the lake. it seemed as if the the village was on an entirely different continent, colours so bleak and bland, ul tyr grimaced in disgust. they would never know how their feathered neighbours could be content with such a boring landscape, such boring colours and boring flowers.

  


sparkling, entrancing, almost melodic was the pixies cheerful dance, their claw-like fingers never pausing as they twirled around the mortal, far out in the lands rather than under the protection of an amaro. “a new playmate, are you not?”, ul tyr chirped, voice charming to the man’s ears that he could not help but nod, “play we shall!” the trio of pixies laughed, watching the entranced mortal fall under their spell as they danced around him, body being further overtaken by vines with each song the pixies sang. and they sang until their enchantment was finished, until the mortal had turned into nothing but an overgrown shrub in the landscape, look of terror evident on its leaf face as it shaped itself after the man it consumed.


	8. home (ffxiv)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “despite your insistence i am not burdened by your loss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> canon-compliant , heavy shb endgame , i love the amaurotines

“you can’t well seek to find comfort in this, dear friend?” hades scoffed at the notion, white locks dangling over the faux red mask covering his eyes. he had sat himself on one of the benches, legs dangling eerily above the abyss behind the confines of the city as his gaze was turned outwards. in some twisted way, he’d wish his friend had not retained his keen senses. the man remained silent, stoic as he was, and heard the other shift behind him until the bench gnawed under newly added weight, “though i take i would not be mistaken were i to believe you were.” knowing he could not ignore the other without it weighing heavy on his conscience, hades responded, not ripping his eyes off the swirling dark, “while i do appreciate the concern, however inessential it may be, i doubt i have given you any cause to worry.” a snicker, causing the man to turn his head, “undoubtedly, you  _ are  _ still the same architect i knew mere eons past.” he craned his head, the mask on his face moving not even a sliver, and stared at the apparition, displeasement laying heavy in his expression.

his friend towered over him, hades wishing he too could return to the times that he was of the same size rather than half of his, as only a smile slipped forth below the white mask and hades contained another scoff ere it escaped him. “do not make a fool of yourself, hythlodaeus”, he squinted at the shade clad in its signature gray robes, “despite your insistence, i am not burdened with your loss.” hythlodaeus went quiet and, were hades not acquainted with his behaviour, he would assume the other to be hurt by his words. instead, the taller broke the silence with a chuckle, voice almost enough to shake hades’ off the bench, “ah, would that be why i am the only one aware of our surroundings? your words have no basis considering the mirrors of our other friends, long lost to time, have nor the will or the ability to remember the past.” the accuracy of the words almost struck a chord, were it not for hades undying eccentricity, yet he would still mull over the speech. “mayhaps i had just gotten distracted for a mere second, unmistakingly causing you to remember. nothing more, nothing less.”

in himself, he knew that hythlodaeus words were true, undoubtedly a perfect mirror of what had caused hades appearance to falter as he recreated the ancient city, yet he too knew that accepting what the other had spoken was not his personality; one which his friend was well acquainted with. “disregarding that”, his voice was calm, almost quiet were it not for the tingle of smugness that each of his words carried with them, “to what do we owe the pleasure, hades?” it was neither a pleasure nor a gift, having to relive ancient memories and, hades showed his distaste regarding the nature of hythlodaeus comment. “were i to tell you, you would but make light of it,'' he almost laughed, almost felt comfortable as he gazed upon the formless apparition. striking irony it was, when hythlodaeus carefully lifted a hand, sliding the fingers below his cowl where they remained on his cheek, “it seems as if ‘twas only yesterday that i found you in your chambers with-” “if however you so desperately need to quench your curiosity”, glares sharp as daggers could be spied through the slits in his red mask - though they had lost all their edge as they reached hythlodaeus form, “then i require you to sit still.”

surprisingly, he’d done as told and hades wondered if, perchance, he had truly made a mistake when he recreated hythlodaeus’ shade, knowing his old friend had never sat still - even less were hades to require it of him. nonetheless, he would tell his tale, leaving out the parts in which he had  _ failed _ and rather fixating on the points where he had succeeded. he’d spun tales of conquest, of enthrallment and burning hatred, loss painfully evident in his voice no matter how hard he had steeled himself against the throes of grief. “pray, forgive the inquiry”, the momentary silence lay heavy for only a mere second, one too many for hades’ tastes, “but do you truly, in all honesty, believe you merely sculpted the entirety of amaurot to test this warrior of light you speak of?” were hythlodaeus not his oldest friend, hades would have thrusted his dead shape back into the underworld, but the mental trauma he had gone through the first time he lost everyone and everything he held dear prevented his hands from moving. left without an answer, hythlodaeus could do naught but sigh, “until they find your creation, let us be about.” he’d stood up, feet not waiting on hades to catch up and the archmagus was left to decide his next move on a whim. “it is home after all”, the archmagus whispered, words gone unheard under the heavy surroundings, as he jumped off the bench and followed his old friend, indulging in the days of old until they would once again be ripped from him. reliving the past until he had to relinquish the magic that kept the drowned city from disappearing once again.


	9. storm (nct)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “it’s not your fault”, that’s what people always said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chenle-centric! , weather metaphors

chenle incorporated the sun’s warmth as much as jisung was the biting cold that accompanied heavy rainfalls. polar opposites, both sides not being able to exist on their own without causing primordial chaos. and the world outside the confines of chenle’s room seemed as though it had been plunged into the selfsame chaos that roamed in his head, storms raging in front of his window; so that the boy wanted to do nothing more than keep his head below the bedsheets and ignore the threatening sounds. the sounds of tidal waves, crashing against debilitated windows with pure unbridled rage, consuming the once calm atmosphere with their gaping maws. ironically, the racket outside reverberated not only through the vastness of chenle’s small city, but also the confines of his own mind.

they stood tall, each and every wave of the ongoing storm casting looming shade over thoughts that would normally roam freely. it never seemed to cease either, every ray of the sun that found its way through the dark clouds was choked out the moment it could lit up a mere speck of the soaked land below.

at one point, the storm seemed as though it was imaginary, as if the roaring thunder was but a figment of chenle’s imagination - how could it not be? everyone else appeared to get on fine, continue living as if the permanent rain was nonexistent and in no way impacting any aspect of their lives. yet it weighed heavy on his own, feelings of guilt towering above all else and drowning out the conscious thoughts, ones which had been so desperate to fight through the surface. “it’s not your fault”, that’s what people always said. friends, family, even strangers muttered those words as if they were meaningless and he had wanted to do nothing more than scream at them. because it was, because if chenle had not held the person he loved the most back, told him to stay in the city with him rather than move away, maybe the crash would never have happened.

hilarious, really. how he was supposed to be the epitome of sunshine yet had been feeling like constant snowfall. shivering whenever he recalled the event that put him down in the first place and he couldn’t do anything but stare out of the window, watching the raindrops and wondering if jisung would ever forgive him. if his best friend blamed him for the day he died or if maybe, people were right - that he’d want chenle to make something of himself. but he would never know, never have the closure he needed, and spent the days wondering if maybe one day they would see each other again.


End file.
